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Æ24 - Gordian III ΝΙΚΑΙΕΩΝ
| Issuer | Nicaea (Bithynia and Pontus) |
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| Year | 238-244 |
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| Reference(s) | RPC VII.2#1901 |
| Obverse description | Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Emperor Gordian III facing right, portrayed three-quarter from the rear in the characteristic provincial style of the period. The radiate crown is rendered with pronounced spikes above the youthful imperial effigy. The paludamentum is visible at the shoulder, and the cuirass is suggested beneath the drapery. The Greek legend encircles the bust along the periphery of the flan. |
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| Obverse lettering | Μ ΑΝΤ ΓΟΡΔΙΑΝΟϹ ΑΥΓ (Translation: Marcus Antonius Gordianus Augustus) |
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| Additional information |
Nicaea was one of the most prolific provincial mints under Gordian III, issuing an unusually broad range of bronze denominations across his six-year reign — a period when the central Roman mint at Antioch was increasingly consumed by military coinage to fund campaigns against Shapur I. Bithynian civic bronzes like this one circulated alongside imperial radiates but served an entirely local economy, never traveling far from the region.
The city had long traded on its status as the site of the first Ecumenical Council, though that was still decades away. Its civic pride in this period expressed itself partly through coin volume.